Lipinets: Garcia Will Have to Pry My Title Out of My Dead Hands

The newly crowned IBF junior welterweight champion campaigned for a big fight after he won that title November 4. He just didn’t expect it to come against Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs), who admits he is probably better off fighting at lightweight, five pounds lower than the 140-pound limit at which he’ll challenge Lipinets (13-0, 10 KOs) on Saturday night in San Antonio.

“There were a couple of names on the table who we were looking at when I won the title,” Lipinets told BoxingScene.com through a translator. “I was really surprised Mikey Garcia took the fight. I’m happy he did. I thank him a lot for that. Whatever reason they used and whatever they looked at for taking the fight – because we know the Garcias don’t take fights that they might not win – I’m gonna make sure I prove otherwise.”

Kazakhstan’s Lipinets is certain Garcia made a mistake by accepting their 12-round, 140-pound title fight at Freeman Coliseum. The 28-year-old champion feels he’ll be too big and too strong for the three-division champion from Oxnard, California, when they square off in a “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event at Freeman Coliseum.

Lipinets went the distance in his last fight for just the third time in his four-year pro career. The opponent Lipinets beat to win the then-vacant IBF junior welterweight title, Japan’s Akihiro Kondo (29-7-1, 16 KOs), has never been knocked out, or even knocked down.

“Maybe they looked at my last fight, when I won the championship,” Lipinets said, “and they saw something, that I have vulnerabilities of some kind, that I have holes in my game. Whatever they saw, it’s gonna be different when we step in the ring. … I’m a champion of the world right now and he’ll have to pry my title out of my dead hands to get it from me.”

The opener of the broadcast will match Cuba’s Rances Barthelemy (26-0, 13 KOs) against Belarus’ Kiryl Relikh (21-2, 19 KOs) in a 12-round rematch for the vacant WBA super lightweight title. Barthelemy defeated Relikh by 12-round unanimous decision in their first fight, which took place May 20 at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.

[QUOTE=FinitoxDinamita;18564690]I knew MisanthropicNY knew something about Boxing. The guys actually boxes so it’s different from the inside.
You couch potatoes are on the outside looking im. Wtf would you know? Lol[/QUOTE]
Lmaoooo I heard he’s actually Charlie Zelenoff

[QUOTE=MisanthropicNY;18564682]I am a professional boxer although never active and you're a couch potato fan boy... so I guess you're admitting that I would beat the living daylights out of you in a boxing match?
Glad to know.[/QUOTE]
You’re a weirdo…

[QUOTE=THEFRESHBRAWLER;18564467]I should of said anything can happen in a fight between professional boxers for the mentally incompetent.[/QUOTE]
I am a professional boxer although never active and you're a couch potato fan boy... so I guess you're admitting that I would…

[QUOTE=MisanthropicNY;18564405]"Anything can happen in a fight."
McGregor could beat Mayweather in a rematch too :pat:[/QUOTE]
I should of said anything can happen in a fight between professional boxers for the mentally incompetent.